As of Tuesday, the Trump administration has frozen tens of millions of dollars in funding to Planned Parenthood, affecting access to birth control, STI testing and cancer screenings for low-income individuals. Planned Parenthood in Alaska estimates that around 3,000 people in the state will be impacted by the cuts.
Title X, a program within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has funded family planning clinics since 1970. By law, Title X funds cannot be used to perform, promote, refer to, or support abortion services, according to HHS.
On Monday night, nine Planned Parenthood affiliates were notified that their funding would be withheld starting the next day.
Alaska currently has two Planned Parenthood health centers, located in Anchorage and Fairbanks. The Juneau center closed in November 2024. The Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic in Homer also receives Title X funding but is not affiliated with Planned Parenthood.
“The administration is set on dismantling access to reproductive health care,” said Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, in a statement Tuesday. “Now they’re using our commitment to providing a safe and supportive environment for patients and staff as an excuse to attack the care we provide to those who need it most.”
According to HHS, family planning clinics in Alaska provide a range of services, including contraception, pregnancy testing and counseling, assistance with achieving pregnancy, basic infertility services, STI testing and treatment, and other preconception care.
Abortion services account for approximately 4% of services offered by Planned Parenthood, according to its 2023 annual report.
Gibron warned that the funding freeze will severely affect low-income patients.
“These patients rely on Title X for their birth control and health care. Without this program, they may have no access at all,” she said. “By withholding Title X funds, Trump and Musk’s federal government is denying health care and restricting patients’ freedom to control their bodies, their lives, and their futures.”
Planned Parenthood expects to lose approximately $1 million in Title X funding in Alaska.
“We are evaluating how this will impact our health centers operationally,” a Planned Parenthood spokesperson said by email. “Any disruption in funding will make it harder for Alaskans across the state to access the care they need — birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, wellness exams, and more. Without our health centers in the Title X program, other providers will struggle to absorb the additional 3,000 low-income patients.”
“With Alaska already facing a health care crisis due to major provider shortages and health care deserts caused by the state’s unique geography, we cannot afford additional barriers to essential services,” the spokesperson added.
Federal response and oversight
A spokesperson for HHS stated Tuesday that the agency is reviewing all Title X grant recipients to ensure compliance with federal law and President Trump’s executive orders.
“HHS is concerned about the compliance of several awardees, affecting $27.5 million in continuation awards,” the spokesperson said. “We expect all recipients of federal funding to comply with the law.”
Rep. Ashley Carrick (D–Fairbanks) expressed strong concern about the funding freeze.
“We know that when we limit access to reproductive health, family planning, and contraceptive services, abortion rates go up,” Carrick told the News-Miner. “If the intention is to increase abortion rates in Alaska and across the country, and to ensure Alaskans — who already face above-average STI and reproductive health challenges — lose access to care, then that’s the outcome we’re heading toward.”
In 2024, Alaska had the nation’s highest rate of gonorrhea and the third-highest rate of chlamydia, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report cited by the Alaska Beacon.
Anti-abortion protesters gathered Tuesday outside the Fairbanks Planned Parenthood on Airport Way, as they have weekly for years.
Jan Parker, a member of Bible Baptist Church, said her primary concern is abortion, and she believes other providers can offer health services.
“There are other places people can go for those services — but not just anywhere for an abortion,” Parker said. “Abortion is our main concern, not the small percentage of what Planned Parenthood calls health care.”
According to Planned Parenthood’s 2023 report, 96% of the services it provides are non-abortion related.
“Those are humans, and they have rights,” Parker said. “It’s their body, inside the woman’s body, but they are their own being.”
Parker said she hopes the federal government will permanently defund Planned Parenthood.
“I hope they pull our funds so taxpayers aren’t paying for people to get abortions,” she said.
Despite her claim, federal law prohibits the use of any federal funds—including Title X dollars—for abortion-related services.
John Delain, another protester, held a sign reading, “Abortion hurts women.”
“I haven’t given the other funding much thought,” Delain said. “I’m really just concerned about taking the life of an innocent child. That’s why I’m out here.”
Delain agreed with Parker that other health care providers in Fairbanks can offer STI testing and cancer screenings.
